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05/10/2004: Thought for the Day:
Van Helsing has an unfortunate case of amnesia, which thankfully saves us from having to learn about his past - the present is bad enough. This raises the question of whether all Hugh Jackman superheroes have memory problems. Cut Van Helsing's hair and give him long fingernails, and you'd have Wolverine - except that Jackman's performance in X-Men is considerably better. In fact, the only reason Jackman doesn't come across as inept is because he's surrounded by actors who are doing worse jobs. Kate Beckinsale's performance, for example, makes one yearn for the superior work she turned out in Pearl Harbor (the less said about her accent, or with it, the better). Richard Roxburgh portrays Dracula as a cross between Tinkerbell and his frothing-at-the-mouth Duke in Moulin Rouge. The count would have been better served had the filmmakers violated Bela Lugosi's grave and propped up the dead actor's corpse. And Shuler Hensley offers a Frankenstein's monster that's more Herman Munster than Karloff.
--James Berardinelli [on the film Van Helsing]
Len on 05.10.04 @ 06:54 AM CST
